After playing the 28^th ranked run defense, the public opinion of the O-line and Rashard Mendenhall is through the roof.  Visits to Detroit and Cleveland should do nothing to dampen the mood.

The performance versus the Chargers was remarkable in some individual ways however.  Left Guard Chris Kemoeatu was pulling smoothly and generally had an unpublicized break out game.  Max Starks also played with much improved consistency.  While the o-line opened up ridiculous holes for Mendenhall, he did hit said holes with flair, running in good timing with the blocking.  One of the loudest cheers all game was for a thunderous Mendenhall block on a blitzing Charger linebacker.

Personnel Notes:

Willie Parker’s turf toe is improving and Troy Polamalu is also close to making his return.  The Steelers put Nick Eason back on the 53 man roster, moving Isaac Redman back to the practice squad.

Rookie DT Ra’Shonn “Sonny” Harris who was previously claimed off of waivers by Carolina at summers’ end was cut from their 53 man roster.  He chose to sign with Carolina’s practice squad over the Steelers’.  He allegedly citied a better chance to make it back to the 53 man roster — He must have missed the forklifts unloading the pallets of Geritol at the Heinz Field loading dock.

Positional Analysis – Center:

Fans were certain that the Steelers were gunning for one of the top flight centers this past draft.  The draft played out in such a way that the Steelers didn’t have a shot at one of these guys at the price they wanted.  They did pick up local talent A. Q. Shipley out of Penn State in the 7^th round.  Fan expectations for center are extremely high as they look for a player to claim the pro bowl mantle of Mike Webster, Dermonti Dawson, and Jeff Hartings.

Starter: Justin Hartwig was one of the bright spots of the O-Line last year.  Acquired as a free agent from Carolina, Hartwig also played for Tennessee for several years.  He’s been a consistent pass blocker and competent in the run game.  He’s been pretty stout against the bigger nose tackles of the division and has provided some veteran leadership on the line.  Without a young star in the lineup the Steelers recently re-signed the 30 year old Hartwig through 2012.

Backup:  Doug Legursky was picked up last year as an undrafted free agent out of Marshall.  Legursky is more of a short, squat, and powerful player at 6’1 315lb.  He set the weight room record for the squat at 705 lb at Marshall.  He was on the practice squad last year.  The pre-season injury to Stapleton more or less guaranteed him a roster spot although he may have claimed one outright with stout play at guard and center.

IR:  Darnell Stapleton was picked up as an undrafted free agent out of Rutgers in 2007.  After some time in 2007 on the practice squad, he started in 2008 after Kendall Simmons went down with an injury.  While he filled in admirably, he was clearly a backup level talent.

PS:  AQ Shipley was drafted in the 7^th round this year out of Penn State.  At Penn State he won the Rimmington trophy for best Center in college.  He grew up in the ‘burgh and he’s actually a family friend of Mike Webster’s Family (RIP Iron Mike).  He’s a very intelligent and hardworking player who impressed coaches in his rookie camp.  Physically he’s fairly similar to Legursky at 6’0 298lb and strong as a bull.  He’s famously been criticized for having short arms.  If not for Stapleton’s injury, Shipley may not have made the PS.